Today's Harvest

Farming has always been about stewardship of the land for the next generation. As part of Farm Credit East's commitment to the future of agriculture, we're pleased to support American Farmland Trust’s (AFT) Farmland for the Next Generation project.

Farm transition planning is a topic that every ag business owner/operator will have to face. How many principal operators are addressing this transition in a timely, proactive manner? Unfortunately, too many put it off till “someday”. Jon Jaffe, Farm Credit East Business Consultant, discusses five hurdles of planning a transition for an ag business.

Estimates are that $600 million in profitability (based on $8.4 billion of gross sales) is missed each year in Northeast agriculture. Don’t leave money on the table, or miss an opportunity for your farm business.

In August, the Treasury Department issued new IRS regulations for valuing businesses in calculating estate, gift and generation-skipping taxes. At issue are discounts on valuations because of minority ownership and/or lack of marketability for family owned business.